Wonderland
by RoverGirl
Summary: Following a successful first contact, the Enterprise is given permission to visit a protected planet and Malcolm Reed soon discovers that a broken leg is the least of his worries. Chapter Two operational.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: I do not own Star Trek: Enterprise. The Deltarians and their planets/moons etc are a fictional non canon species created purely for this story. I am without a beta reader. Any and all mistakes are my own.

* * *

It looked idyllic.

A beautiful vibrant blue pearl peppered with green continents and crisp white polar caps in the vastness of space.

"Attention crew members," Captain Archer announced over the Enterprise's tannoy system, "if you would care to look out of a window you might enjoy the view."

Captain Archer was in good spirits.

He had good reason to be after he'd once again made a successful first contact with yet another alien species and the success of that contact (helped by Porthos who had won over the hearts of the Deltarian royal family) lead to Enterprise having a permit to visit an otherwise forbidden planet.

T'Pol informed him afterwards of Vulcan's own first contact efforts with the Deltarians and how badly and quickly they ended and commended Archer for such a successful first contact. She'd also petted Porthos in a rare moment of praise.

The planet Archer had selected to visit was called Newfoundearth and located within a Deltarian conservation zone which protected a system consisting of several small planets and moons, all with pristine ecosystems almost completely devoid of outside interference minus small camp settlements set up for scientists and other visitors and several research satellites in orbit.

And now the Enterprise herself was in orbit around Newfoundearth and the crew allowed to have shore leave on the protected world providing their obeyed the Deltarian rules which were pretty straight forward to understand and mainly implied common sense.

Captain Archer was keen to make a good impression.

Delta was a rich and diverse world with a space fleet much bigger and more advanced than that of the Vulcan fleet; the Deltarian flagship was capable of warp nine and dwarfed the Enterprise considerably.

Commander Tucker was eager to get aboard one of the cruisers to have a look at their technology first hand, as was Lieutenant Reed after he'd scanned one of the smaller vessels and was interested in the weapon signatures he'd picked up.

But that was for another day.

Looking at the viewscreen at the beautiful small planet, Archer smiled.

For the first time in many weeks the crew wouldn't be bored out of their skulls, worry about enemy fire or toxic space storms. Except for Malcolm. The Brit tended to get a little cagey if he went too long without firing a phase pistol or blowing something up.

Archer turned to his science officer who was busy scanning away.

"T'Pol?" he inquired.

"Nitrogen oxygen atmosphere consistent with Earth's. There's an active ribbon of submerged volcanoes in the southern hemisphere and a smaller one near the equator."

"Any signs of life?" Archer asked.

"T'Pol kept reading her instrumentations.

"Various fauna and flora lifeforms detected. I'm picking up six Deltarian life signs on the large western continent."

"That must be Commander Ensi and her team," Hoshi pipped up, "they'll be expecting us at some point during our stay."

"They have communication capabilities," T'Pol pointed out, looking up.

Archer turned to his communications officer.

"Hoshi, open a channel."

She smiled and tapped a few buttons to open the comm link.

"Channel open, Sir."

Giving his bridge crew a quick sweep over, Archer walked around his bridge, delighted at the prospect of actually getting on with exploring.

"This is Captain Archer of the Enterprise to Commander Ensi, we've been given permission by the Deltarian royal family to visit and explore this planet."

"Enterprise, this is Commander Ensi of the research vessel Natura. Our sensors detected you enter orbit. We've been expecting your communicate. Do you require any assistance with your research?" the Deltarian responded quickly.

"Know of any good locations to start at?" Archer asked the female officer.

"You can join us if you'd like, we've got plenty of room at camp," Ensi offered.

"I'll take you up on that offer," Archer replied.

"Excellent. We'll be expecting you shortly. I'll send you landing coordinates."

"Thank you, Commander. See you soon."

Hoshi cut the comm link.

"Receiving those coordinates now, Sir," she informed him.

"Very good, Hoshi."

Now all he needed to do was decide who to initially take down to the surface.

Hoshi was an understandable choice as he'd need help understanding the Deltarians and the young woman had quickly become acquainted with their language and culture. He also needed a pilot and Malcolm would want to go as a security measure. Trip would want to experience the Deltarians first hand having been on the ship when first contact was made and T'Pol was a logical choice to take.

But he had to leave one of his senior officers in charge and luckily T'Pol came to his rescue.

"Captain, I suggest you keep the initial welcome party to the minimal. We have no idea how large Doctor Ensi's camp is or how long they have been here. A small party would seem less threatening that an entire team of officers."

"You might wanna take Porthos with ya from what I heard, C'ptain," Trip pipped in.

Archer smiled and nodded; both of his officers were correct.

Archer looked around his staff again and all of them minus Travis looked back. Hoshi seemed delighted at how well they were getting along with the Deltarians, Malcolm and Trip, who stood just behind the armoury officer, both looked eager to head down to the planet's surface as soon as possible. T'Pol was her usual calm self and Travis, Archer could tell, was just excited to see the new planet.

"Newfoundearth," Hoshi said aloud, "sounds so close to home."

Trip nodded in agreement.

"And from the sounds of it like we're gonna need our camping gear. Fancy that, Hoshi, Travis? Camping underneath the stars? Telling ghost stories around a camp fire?" he asked.

"If you are allowed to make a camp fire," T'Pol pointed out.

"I didn't see anythin' in the rules they sent us saying we couldn't," Trip pointed out.

"I think we'll be okay, Prince Luciano invited Hoshi out on a camp fire date whilst she was on Delta," Malcolm added.

"It wasn't a date," Hoshi interjected, smiling sweetly at the Brit "he was simply curious about Earth's culture and wanted to learn more about it."

She was so getting Malcolm back for that one.

"By serenading you over a camp fire?" Trip asked teasing her, "next time he sees you he'll be asking you to marry him."

"That's enough," Archer told them, stopping his officers before things escalated out of control, "Travis, Hoshi, you're with me," Archer told the younger of his senior staff.

"But, C'ptain," Trip protested.

"We're not breaking orbit just yet, Trip. You'll have your chance to head down to the planet," Archer told him as Hoshi and Travis left their stations and the trio headed towards the turbo lift, "T'Pol work out schedules for the science teams."

"Yes, Captain."

The doors closed behind them as Hoshi selected the decks.

It was good chance for the younger officers to get some of the action Archer reasoned and there was plenty of time for everyone to get some sight seeing done and enjoy a break, that and he was also curious himself as to what had actually happened once Hoshi had wandered off with the prince at the royal palace.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Notes: I do not own Star Trek: Enterprise. The Deltarians and their planets/moons etc are a fictional non canon species created purely for this story. I am without a beat reader. Any and all mistakes are purely my own. Please read & review.

My apologies for the delays to this chapter. Another story had priority over this one and then I decided to make a series of changes to the storyline and that had a fair impact on the posting date also.

* * *

"Anything I should be worried about, Hoshi?" Archer enquired behind the closed doors of the turbolift.

The young communications officer rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, Sir. It was nothing. Commander Tucker and Lieutenant Reed were pulling my leg," she explained.

Archer smiled at her in return.

"You were gone an awfully long time," Travis pointed out.

Hoshi raised her eyebrows at the helmsman.

"Really, Travis? You too?"

"Just saying," he replied, "he was awfully friendly," he replied with a wink.

"All the Deltarians we encountered were friendly," she pointed out.

"Hoshi has a good point, Travis," Archer interjected, "and if memory serves right, you, Trip and Malcolm were pretty friendly also."

Before Travis could formulate a response the turbolift slowed and the doors opened.

"Go get your gear together, I'll join you by Shuttlepod One in a few minutes," Archer ordered Hoshi and a slack-jawed Travis as he exited.

"Yes, Sir," Hoshi replied for both of them.

The doors closed shut and the lift started up again.

"I swear nothing happened on Delta," Travis pointed out.

"Oh really?" Hoshi replied, crossing her arms.

Travis smiled wildly.

"Do you think that Commander Tucker and Lt Reed-"

"Their personal lives are none of our concern," Hoshi told him, cutting him off before he could finish talking.

"You're beginning to sound like T'Pol," Travis observed as the turbolift once again slowed and the doors opened.

Both of them got out.

"I'll see you at the Shuttlepod," she told him, heading off towards her quarters.

"Remember to pack your bug spray, Hoshi," he reminded her, smirking as he did.

Heading off down the maze of corridors, Travis made a mental checklist of what he'd need for going down to the planet for a few days, though he guessed that he'd have an opportunity at some point to collect anything else he needed providing all went well with the Deltarians on the surface.

Reaching his quarters, he tapped in his command code on the console by his door and unlocked it, stepping inside.

The door swished shut behind him as he went over to his wardrobe, dug out his sports bag and threw it on his bed.

He picked out a spare uniform, t-shirt and change of underwear and threw them on the bed as well.

Heading into his bathroom, he grabbed some standard toiletries and then to his desk to pick up his camera.

Briefly looking out of his window at the pearl of a planet below, Travis beamed as he began packing the items into his bag as quickly as he could. His years of being a space boomer ensured he packed everything neatly away in a fashion that would put Lieutenant Reed to shame.

He turned and opened a cupboard underneath his desk to pick up his collapsible water bottle and his reserve, also his communicator, torch and cap, placing them in the bag and zipping it up.

He picked up it up and left his quarters, locking them in the process and made his way back to the turbolift, meeting Hoshi enroute, identical sports bag in her right hand.

"Don't worry, I've got bug spray and also sun block," she told him, prompting both of them to laugh as they reached the turbolift and entered.

Hoshi selected the floor and the pair remained in a comfortable quiet until the turbolift reached their next destination.

Walking in unison, the pair headed to the launch pad and stood by Shuttlepod One.

Captain Archer was yet to arrive.

"Did you pack the UT?" Travis asked.

Hoshi nodded.

"I also packed a couple of books should the Deltarians be curious about our language and also some chocolate."

"Good call," Travis replied with a nod of his head, "you're planning on sharing, right? I mean the chocolate."

Hoshi smiled at him sweetly.

"It's for the Deltarians, they have a sweet tooth."

"So I noticed. I don't think I've eaten so many cream buns in all my life," Travis replied, "they sure like their sweets and treats."

"You should be safe here, Travis. I doubt the Deltarians will have much in the way of cakes and biscuits. Most likely it'll be rations or whatever they've been able to forage on the planet."

"As soon as it's not bugs," Travis replied with a grimace.

The launch bay doors opened.

Porthos ran in as fast as his four paws would allow him, barking in apparent delight. His owner followed him in with Commander Tucker alongside, both carrying sports bags and camping equipment.

"Are you sure I can't come with ya? I won't upset the Deltarians, I promise," Tucker asked his commandeering officer apparently again.

Travis and Hoshi looked at each other knowingly.

"It's just an initial first contact, Trip, we don't want to scare Commander Ensi and her team with too many of our people showing up. Once they're okay with us, you can head on down and join us," Archer assured him.

"I'll hold ya to that," Trip replied.

Archer chuckled as he looked at his two junior officers.

"Ready to go?" Archer asked them.

Both of them nodded in unison.

"Can't wait, Sir," Travis replied.

"Well," Archer said, gesticulating at the Shuttlepod, "shall we?"

Travis opened the door as Hoshi took some of the equipment off of Commander Tucker.

Porthos jumped in immediately, settling himself down on the floor near the pilot's seat. Archer followed, placing his equipment and bag down at the back of the Shuttlepod on one of the bunk seats. Hoshi stepped in and added her load, turning to take Travis' bag off him and the remainder of what Trip had, placing it with the Captain's, then settled into one of the cockpit seats.

Archer sat down in the opposite chair to her as Travis boarded and sat in the pilot seat. He began running through Shuttlepod One's starting procedure.

"Everyone okay?" Trip asked them.

Archer smiled at him.

"Alright, have a good time."

"See you on the planet, Trip," Archer reassured him one last time.

The Chief Engineer nodded and shut the Shuttlepod hatch, stepped away and left the launch bay.

The launch was quick as ever. Travis had the launch procedure and sequence drilled into him and within thirty seconds Shuttlepod One left Enterprise and was making her way down to the planet below them. Travis inputted the coordinates into the Shuttlepod's navigational system and followed the flight vector and path into the atmosphere.

"Just think," Archer told them, "fresh air again. Maybe we ought to collect some and add it to the ventilation."

Both Ensigns smirked.

"I could imagine a sharp increase in hay fever cases, Captain," Hoshi replied.

"It'd be worth it to wake up to the smell of fresh flowers everyday," Travis added.

Archer smirked.

"It was just a thought," he said, gazing out of the windows at the view ahead, "this planet certainly looks like paradise."

"Certainly looks like Earth, minus the buildings and civilisation," Travis said, "it's a beauty. Looks great for shore leave. It was nice of the Royal Family to grant us that privilege."

"One step at a time, Travis," Archer reminded him as the Shuttlepod reached the top layer of clouds.

"What do we know of the Deltarian team on the surface other than their commandeering officer is Commander Ensi and they're from the Natura?" Archer asked.

"The Natura is one of the most advanced ships in the Deltarian fleet," Hoshi pipped up, "she's a two year old Delphini class starship capable of warp eight point five and she's commanded by one of the Deltarian Royal Navy's most experienced captains. Her crew mostly consists of recent graduates and also a handful of cadets. Commander Ensi was offered a command of her own but she declined in favour of joining Natura," Hoshi explained.

Archer and Mayweather looked dumbfounded as the Shuttlepod reached the lower clouds layers.

"And you know this how, Hoshi?" Archer asked her.

"Prince Luciano," she explained, "the Natura's launch was a pretty extravagant and well celebrated event."

"I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest given what we know of the Deltarians," Archer commented with a smile on his face.

"We're coming up on the landing site," Travis informed them as the last of the clouds rose above them.

Archer leaned forward in his seat.

Before them was a lush green continent, emerald in colour. White sand beaches bordered the edges leading out to an almost light glittery hue of vast blue ocean.

It looked amazing.

"Whereabouts on the continent are they?" Archer asked.

"On the east coast less than twenty metres inland from the beach. The camp is located in a protected cove," Hoshi told them.

"The landing coordinates are one hundred metres behind the camp," Travis added.

"Take us in," Archer told him.

"Commander Tucker will love this," Hoshi commented absent-mindedly.

"He'll see it for himself soon enough, Hoshi," he replied as Shuttlepod One continued to descend towards her landing site.

Travis changed the angle of descent and swung the Shuttlepod into a wide circle, swooping inland to face towards the camp as he prepared for landing. Archer leaned back as Porthos poked his head up and stood up.

Taking crosswinds into consideration, Travis finished lining the Shuttlepod up.

He spotted the camp and a small craft near to their own landing position, presumably the Deltarian shuttle. Travis couldn't help but note how significantly bigger it was than their own; then again, the Deltarians were a more advanced species.

The camp itself from what Travis could see looked pretty basic, built of wood, tent canvases and metal sheeting for a roof, possibly aluminium or a similar metal.

"Guess the Deltarians go back to basics here," Travis told them as he eased the shuttle down the last hundred metres to the landing site.

Shuttlepod One landed gently upon the sandy ground, barely making a sound.

"We're here," Travis told them as both Hoshi and Archer stood up and Travis powered down the Shuttlepod.

"Nice piloting, Travis," Archer told him, patting the helmsman on his right shoulder.

Hoshi stared out at the scenery.

Lush palm trees gently blowing in the wind formed a tropical forest in front of them, white sand all around, making paths between the trees and towards the camp. The trees cast cool looking shadows onto the ground below.

"Did you pack a camera, Hoshi?"

"Sure did. You?"

"Sure did."

From the shadows of the forest, a shape appeared; it was one of the Deltarians. Distinguishable from humans by the pattern of light brown spots that ran down the sides of her neck and her arms, she had light blonde hair, stereotypical of Eastern Deltarians, and was dressed in light khaki shorts and a light blue strappy top which bore the logo of the Deltarian Royal Navy near the base of the garment on the right hand side. A utility belt was around her slim waist and a watch/communicator on her right wrist.

"I take it that's Commander Ensi," Travis said.

"There's only one way to find out," Archer told them.

He went over to the Shuttlepod hatch and opened it. Immediately a wave of hot air rolled into the Shuttlepod.

Travis checked his instrumentation.

"It's thirty-two degrees Celsius out there," he told them.

"Thanks for the warning," Hoshi told him flippantly.

Porthos shot out of the Shuttlepod like a whippet and ran straight towards the stranger who knelt down to fuss the canine.

Archer stepped out of the pod quickly followed by Hoshi and Travis.

"Captain Archer," the Deltarian greeted, standing back up.

She approached them, Porthos danced in circles around her.

"Commander Ensi," she greeted, extending a hand.

Archer took it, shaking hands with her.

"Captain Jonathan Archer," he responded.

He gestured to his crew members.

"Ensign Hoshi Sato, my communications officer and my helmsman, Ensign Travis Mayweather."

"My pleasure," Ensi replied, shaking both their greeting hands.

"And this is Porthos," Archer told her with a gesture to the Beagle.

"Who decided to ignore protocol I presume?" Ensi said with a smile, "my companion used to do that also."

"Companion?"Travis asked.

"Deltarians don't have a word for pet," Hoshi informed him.

"Oh."

"Come, I'll introduce you to the rest of the team. Lunch should be done soon," Ensi told them, gesturing to a path.

Taking the Deltarian's lead, Archer went ahead with Ensi falling into stride just behind him and alongside Hoshi. Porthos decided to run on ahead while Travis brought up the rear.

They began their trek through the windy maze of the forest.

TBC...


End file.
